SAN ANTONIO – Dozens of community members gathered Tuesday evening at Concepción Park to pray for 7-month-old Ozana Cisneros and her family as investigators continue searching for answers in the high-profile case.
The vigil came one day after the Texas Department of Public Safety discontinued the AMBER Alert issued for Cisneros. Despite the alert being canceled, authorities said the investigation remains active and the San Antonio Police Department is leading the case.
Family friends, neighbors and people who had never met the Cisneros family stood side by side, holding candles, praying and offering words of encouragement for those closest to the child.
Among them was Rosenda Menchaca, a longtime family friend of Ozana’s grandmother, Petra Rodriguez.
“It really has affected me,” Menchaca said. “There’s all these unanswered questions. I’m just really hoping that the baby is safe wherever she’s at. She’s just a little baby.”
Menchaca said she has known the family for years and met Cisneros when she was only three days old.
“My heart just sunk into her,” she added. “I fell in love with her when I held her.”
As the vigil took place, Menchaca said her thoughts remained with the infant and her mother, 19-year-old Maximina Cisneros.
“I just hope that wherever she’s at, she’s not out in this rain and this heat,” Menchaca said.
She said attending the vigil was her way of showing support to the fullest degree.
“I’m a family friend for many years, and I just really wanted to be here,” Menchaca said. “The community wants to pray for a good outcome.”
Throughout the evening, many attendees echoed similar sentiments, hoping for answers while also encouraging anyone with information to come forward.
“If you see something, just say something and call 911,” Menchaca said. “There needs to be justice, whatever the outcome might be.”
The community gathering comes after several developments in the investigation over the past week.
An AMBER Alert was issued on July 10 after San Antonio police said the infant had last been seen at the 600 block of Roosevelt Avenue.
Authorities identified Maximina Cisneros as a person connected to the investigation. On Friday, she was found at a home on Parkview Drive, just streets away from a location where officers found skeletal remains in a park bush.
Maximina Cisneros was taken to a hospital with unspecified injuries.
Investigators did not confirm whether the remains found at Concepción Park were connected to the case.
In a statement to KSAT on Tuesday evening, SAPD said Ozana Cisneros “remains actively missing.”
“The alert has not produced any leads, and the department continues to investigate,” SAPD said.
For Menchaca, the decision to discontinue the alert only added to her concerns.
“I was more in shock,” she said. “Why is it discontinued? Everybody should still be looking. This baby needs to be found. There needs to be a lot of answers.”
She said the uncertainty has been difficult not only for those closest to the family, but those concerned in the San Antonio community.
“It’s overwhelming,” Menchaca said. “Not just for myself, but my children and everyone.”
As candles flickered Tuesday night, those gathered shared a common message: They hope Ozana Cisneros is found, they hope investigators uncover the truth and they want her family to know they are not facing the situation alone.
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